All posts by Daniel Threlfall

Google Analytics is one of the best platforms for tracking almost any metric you can think of. And it’s completely free. That’s why marketers and even seven-figure companies all over the world use it. However, because it’s free, there are a few tradeoffs you have to make. One of those tradeoffs? You have to give up some user friendliness for affordability. Make no mistake: Google Analytics can go super deep. You can use it for some advanced applications, like finding out where users are abandoning the shopping cart. But if you’ve ever looked at Google Analytics before, you may have…

Do you ever think about how much money you might be wasting on Facebook? I’ve done it. And I’ve hated myself for it. It happens. You pour time and money into an ad campaign only for it to fall flat on its face. Often, that’s not your fault – it can be difficult to stand out on a site that has billions of users. At the same time, Facebook is an undeniable marketing juggernaut. Its reach is unlike any other site, and it’d be silly not to use it. So there’s an important question: How do you leverage the platform…

Everyone loves a good intrigue. We like to think there is a hidden agenda behind regular, day to day events. This is particularly true in the case with SEOs, many of whom worry that Google is constantly scheming to control the SERPs. Case in point: the ‘Not Provided’ debate, raging since 2013. For the conspiracy theorist in you, the advent of Google Analytics ‘Not Provided’ keywords has likely lead you to assume that the wonder twins are gearing up for a Dr. Evil-esque scheme to destroy the world of online marketing. After all, over the past two years, there has…

Marketing campaigns live and die by data. One of the recent campaigns I was managing drove me to open up my analytics report every hour. (Holiday season, anyone?) Data can be numbing, but it’s also necessary. Without data, there’s no way to easily determine the health of a campaign. As a marketer, the more data you have at your disposal, and the easier it is to manage data, the easier your job is. Unfortunately, the more tracking and optimization tags you add to the site, the more you have to deal with code bloat. That’s why I want to introduce…

As long as I’ve been working in the digital space, there has been a pervasive idea that all content must be absolutely unique, lest you face the wrath of Google and catch a penalty for duplicate content. I’ve worked as a consultant and an employee for SEO agencies and digital marketing firms. Every so often, I’d have a conversation like this: Junior SEO: “OH NO! Look!” Me: “What?” Junior SEO: “The client has DUPLICATE CONTENT in their website’s footer!” Me: “And?” Junior SEO: “THEY’RE GONNA GET PENALIZED!” Me: I’ve met my share of marketers who are more concerned about duplicate…

Apple may go head to head with other manufacturers like Samsung to gain consumer attention, but Apple has never had a race-to-the-bottom price war. They don’t try to compete on price, and they don’t have to. Steve Jobs and his team excelled at manufacturing and marketing consumer products that consumers love. Apple’s marketing is so effective, in fact, that it has become a benchmark for other companies who want to achieve the same global popularity, revenue growth and staying power. Regardless of your industry, product or service, there are a few things to be learned from Apple’s marketing. Apple’s Marketing…

Would you believe me if I told you that with a few simple strokes on the keyboard, you could tiptoe your way past your audience’s conscious objections, directly influence their subconscious minds, and instantly boost your conversion rates? Just imagine if all that it took to see amazing results in your clickthrough, opt-in, and sales numbers were a few “secret” linguistic tricks people wouldn’t even realize you are using. Now, I know that these are pretty bold claims to make. But over the course of this article, I will prove the unlimited potential of ‘power words’ and teach you how…

Marketers often have a love/hate relationship with case studies. Writing case studies can be nothing short of a chore. They are an incredibly time-consuming task and require tons of scheduling. And when you think about it, why would anyone trust your side of a case study story? Despite that, case studies have their place as a top-performing addition to the content marketing strategy and work wonders in your sales funnel. According to data from Content Marketing Institute, case studies rank as one of the most popular content marketing tactics with 65% of marketers perceiving them as effective. They’re so effective,…

Full disclosure: I’m not a developer. I don’t code. And yet, as a digital marketer, I find myself looking at the source code of websites all the time. When I’m in marketing analysis mode, one of the first things I’ll do when I hit a client’s site is hit option + command + u on my Macbook’s keyboard. Instantly, I’m face-to-face with this: It doesn’t matter how many tools you have for SEO campaigns at your disposal, at some point you’ll wind up looking into the source code of a website either to check on a specific item or to…